This director is vindictive.

Chapter 475 Bald Qiang punches Ultraman and kicks the Smurfs
Chen Mo has completely given up, which shows that sometimes a persona really is a double-edged sword!
Actually, don't you all know that Chen Mo didn't mean that at all?

They definitely know! But they just like to play this way.

Because this kind of gameplay generates traffic! Because Chen Mo's character is a master of sarcastic remarks!
So, at times like this, even if he doesn't say anything, he can still interpret all sorts of things.

Of course, in a way, this is also Chen Mo's Versailles.

The other film companies would love for them to be like Chen Mo; they want this kind of free traffic too!

Look at "Ne Zha," it's become a hot commodity again. Whether it's worth billions or not isn't really that important right now.

The main thing is that everyone had fun!

The other companies were incredibly envious and jealous! They racked their brains, spending money and providing ticket subsidies, and running around like crazy for roadshows, but what was the result?
Its popularity is not even half that of "Ne Zha".
It can only be said that the world is too magical, and they really can't understand it at all, just like the question asked by Xu Ke in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes": "I really don't understand what young people like these days."

The Spring Festival of 2025 is approaching.

The battle for box office supremacy during the Spring Festival has finally come to a temporary halt, a kind of intermission.

However, even now, "Ne Zha" has a huge advantage.

Under the same conditions, the way cinemas schedule movies is now considered to be relatively market-oriented and conventional.

The film's popularity, word-of-mouth, and promotional effectiveness are comprehensively evaluated before scheduling screenings are allocated.

After all, this year's Spring Festival film season is truly incredibly crowded.

However, just before the Spring Festival film season, a set of pre-sale data brought joy to some and sorrow to others.

The one ranked first is quite different from the previous one. In the previous one, "Ne Zha" did not actually have outstanding pre-sale results.

But this life is completely different, with so many "powerful" blessings, a prediction of billions in box office revenue, Chen Mo's battle against four directors, and a nationwide gambling frenzy.

In addition, the various metaphorical topics of "Ne Zha" that clearly have the potential to become a hit led to a surge in pre-sale box office revenue.

截止至2025年1月28日12点50，也就是除夕当天中午。

The pre-sale box office of "Ne Zha" has exceeded 5 million yuan!

While this data may not be comparable to that of "Detective Chinatown 3" from back then, it is absolutely unprecedented for a domestic animated film.

The key point is that it's a direct, overwhelming lead!

Following closely behind was "Detective Chinatown 1900". Because the timing of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's mediation was just right, "Detective Chinatown 1900" was also affected to some extent, but at least it avoided Chen Mo's harsh film reviews. However, because of the poor reputation of "Detective Chinatown 3", the pre-sale box office was far from comparable to the original, but it still reached 2 million yuan.

If we say that "Ne Zha" is far ahead of other films released in the same period, it's understandable. After all, Chen Mo did so much work beforehand, created so many topics, and generated so many big scandals and trending topics. The 2 million yuan pre-sale box office of "Detective Chinatown 1900" was also within everyone's expectations.

When the data showing the third-place ranking came out, everyone was a bit stunned.

Normally speaking, both "The Investiture of the Gods Part II" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" can be considered blockbusters, and in fact, they are no less impressive than the previous two films.

Even with Chen Mo's harsh film reviews and the poor reception of the preview screenings, most people still think that even with a discount, it should still be able to break 100 million in pre-sales, right?

However, the third place was not one of these two films, nor was it "Operation Jiaolong", but rather "Boonie Bears: Reboot", which no one expected!
Bald Qiang actually came in third.

It's safe to say that it left countless people speechless.

And surprisingly, the pre-sale box office has exceeded 100 million!
If "Ne Zha" is considered a domestic animated film, and one that is aimed at all ages, then "Boonie Bears: Reboot" is a completely childish animated film.

The result was that pre-sales exceeded 100 million yuan, which left many people completely baffled.

However, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "The Investiture of the Gods II", which had been fluctuating for more than half a month, were actually lower than "Boonie Bears: Reboot" in terms of pre-sale box office!
And that was it. Xu Ke and Wu Er Shan were truly in a state of complete Spartacus.

The fact that they couldn't beat "Ne Zha 2" or "Detective Chinatown 1900" can be attributed to reasons other than a lack of fighting spirit.

But it's a bit unreasonable that you can't even beat Bald Qiang.

After the pre-sale box office rankings were released, "Ne Zha" was relegated to the sidelines.

#BaldQiangBeatsUpTheLegendoftheCondorHeads# instantly became the number one trending topic! Even Chen Mo was speechless. This is really surreal!
However, netizens started making fun of it.

"Director Xu, don't cry! It's not shameful that Ultraman can't beat Bald Qiang!"

"Director Wu's secret to success is right in front of us. Just make a collaboration between 'Fengshen III' and 'Fengshen: Boonie Bears,' and it'll take off!"

"The biggest dark horse of the year: From the Smurfs to Bald Qiang, Chen Mo's opponents are becoming increasingly abstract!"

"Bald Qiang: Nezha punches Ultraman and kicks the Smurfs, but my chainsaw as a lumberjack is just as sharp!"

Some netizens photoshopped the "Boonie Bears" poster into the "Chinese New Year Film Review Judge," with the caption: "Sit down! Let the professional judges teach you what a family-friendly film is all about."

A witty reply appeared in the Douban short review section: "I thought I was going to see gods fight, but I found that the gods got flattened by Xiong Er's butt!"

"It's really surreal. So, judging from the current situation, it's because back then, everyone was attacking each other, creating a chaotic mess. Only Bald Qiang was quietly cutting down trees. So, while everyone was watching the trolls' nonsense reviews, 'Boonie Bears' actually became a breath of fresh air!"

The media also widely reported on this fantastical ranking list.

Entertainment Vanguard's front-page in-depth report: "The magical reality of the Spring Festival film season: A 7 million yuan blockbuster can't beat Lumberjack, and Chen Mo's jinx isn't actually the worst?"

Subheading: "The combined pre-sales of 'Fengshen 2' and 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' are less than 1.5 million yuan. These two big-budget productions with a combined cost of over 10 billion yuan have pre-sale box office figures that are only comparable to 'Boonie Bears'!"

Reporter XXX reports live: With only 24 hours left until the opening of the Spring Festival film season, the most surreal pre-sale data in Chinese film history was released today—the combined pre-sales of "The Investiture of the Gods II" (invested 7 million yuan) and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" (costing 5 million yuan) are still less than the pre-sale results of a single children's animation, "Boonie Bears".

Ironically, this IP, which netizens jokingly call "the lumberjack," leveraged a cost of 6500 million yuan to generate 1.2 million yuan in pre-sales, while the two "epic productions" have already seen over 60% of their screenings empty.

At first glance, it seems magical, but the truth is that the success of "Boonie Bears: Days of Future Past" exposed three major blind spots in the film industry:

The Spring Festival film season is essentially a "family-friendly" necessity, but traditional film producers have long neglected the viewing needs of families with children.

The pre-sales of "Boonie Bears: Days of Future Past" exceeded 100 million yuan, directly slapping the industry's conventional thinking in the face. While "Fengshen 2" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" were busy bombarding the audience with traffic stars and special effects, Bald Qiang easily captured the parent-child consumer group that had been forgotten by the mainstream market with the essential combination of "children's tickets + parental accompaniment".

Traditional big-budget films are still stubbornly sticking to old formulas. The most typical examples are "Fengshen 2" which spent a lot of money to hire stars and piled on cheap special effects, and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" which relied on a martial arts IP and young idols.

These films all had investments starting at 500 to 600 million yuan, but their pre-sale box office couldn't even beat the children's movie "Bald Qiang". This shows that the audience is already tired of this "big IP + traffic + special effects" formula!
The unexpected failure of "Fengshen 2" also proves that the magic formula for sequels has failed.

Only genuine sincerity is the biggest secret to attracting audiences to the cinema!
Finally, when they all considered "Ne Zha" as their biggest competitor, they overlooked the fact that their competitors were never just the top-grossing films.

It seems only natural that the pre-sale box office of "Boonie Bears: Days of Future Past" crushed the three big-budget films.

Because when the "black tide of public opinion" descended, only "Boonie Bears" was spared!
Chen Mo's scathing film reviews ironically helped his rivals clear the way for their films. Ironically, after Chen Mo dissected "Fengshen 2" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" with reviews like "The Smurfs vs. Voldemort" and "Ultraman mediates in a kindergarten," they were relegated to the bottom of the Spring Festival film rankings.

The biggest beneficiary wasn't *Ne Zha 2*, but rather *Detective Chinatown 1900*, which was originally in the same competition—it was like Chen Mo knocking down two strong men with one blow, allowing the other contestants to easily advance!

No gifts this holiday season? Oops, wrong channel.

This year's holiday season is so surreal!
If it was somewhat understandable that Xu Ke and Wu Er Shan had previously blamed Chen Mo for the high pre-sale ticket refund rate, then...

So when the pre-sale box office of "Boonie Bears: Days of Future Past" was higher than the combined box office of their two movies, it can be said that they were slapped in the face!
Even if they wanted to pretend they didn't know, there was nothing they could do! Because what netizens love to do most is kick someone when they're down.

"What's the point of doing all that? We can't even beat Bald Qiang. The Smurfs and Ultraman comparisons now seem really apt to me!"

"Even Ultraman and the Smurfs teaming up couldn't beat Bald Qiang; this is a complete dimensional reduction attack!"

Image caption: Bear Big and Bear Two trample on the posters of "Investiture of the Gods" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" under their feet, while Bald Qiang stands in the center carrying a chainsaw!
"Director Xu, don't cry, Director Wu, stay strong! At least you've made history—the first 'epic masterpiece' to be completely crushed by animated films!"

"Looking at Chen Mo's film review now, it's still too conservative. It's not Ultraman beating up a kindergartener at all. It's clearly Boonie Bears beating up paper dolls!"

"Case solved! Director Tsui Hark's 'The Great Hero' is actually a tribute to Xiong Da—after all, he was beaten to a pulp but still insisted on not being pulled from the schedule. This tragic scene made me cry my eyes out!"

"Now the pressure is on Wuershan: Should they consider casting Bald Qiang as the male lead for 'Fengshen 3'? Anyway, they've saved money on special effects, and maybe they can recoup their costs by cutting down trees instead!"

Finally, someone summarized: "This wave of 'Boonie Bears' comeback exposes three major truths about the industry—"

Making movies is not as good as making animation; at least children's money is easier to earn.
A popular celebrity is not as good as a talking bear.
No matter how sharp Chen Mo's tongue is, it can't outshine the surreal reality!

(End of this chapter)